I think the glaze makes the details stand out more. We had samples of glazed and unglazed that the cab designer gave us to take home. The plain just looked boring to us. But it is a matter of personal choice.

I tend to love the glazing too. (Not that I got it... :>(

Just a caveat, be sure to see samples of the actual glaze for that particular cabinet, and perhaps a written guarantee of quality and some recourse if you're not happy. I have seen some where the drips are pretty obvious and the KD said, oh it's supposed to be like that!

I just saw glaze on cream cabinets and I thought it looked dirty. I thought it looked trendy too -- like something that was going to be out of style pretty soon. I suppose it might depend on the house it's in. This was a turn-of-the-century house and the glaze didn't make the cabinets look old, just trendy.

On the other hand, I've seen some cabinets made with old reclaimed wood that really did fit in with old houses.

fern4,

So, it was a fairly new house, built in like 1999? JK :>)

I am not a fan of glazing. I have seen it look nice on very expensive cabinets, but on most cabinets, to me, it just looks like dirt and grease in the creases.

We are going with a very light glaze on our off white Omega cabs. My KD showed me how using darker glazes made it look more "dirty" and she steered me away from those. I am pretty sure we are going with "Dry" glazes which I believe only show up in the details and corners and not all over the paint. She said the "wet" glazes give you a more overall look.

Just giving this a bump since I see more threads regarding Maple cabinets this morning! Any other thoughts on whether or not to glaze over maple with a mocha stain?

I don't think glaze looks dirty. I love the look, as it adds dimension to the cabinets, especially if they've got lots of nooks and crannies.

If you like the look, don't worry about whether it's trendy. Everything's going to look outdated eventually.

We have a coffee glaze over our maple cabinets. I don't think it looks dirty. I think it looks rustic and just gives them more dimension. As for wether or not it's trendy, I don't particularly care, everything is trendy at some point. If in 10 years I don't like it anymore, well, at least they're real wood and could be painted or refinished unlike the awful builder's grade laminated cabinets I had before (although bamaspice's kitchen is such an inspiration!). Go with what you like now. If I hadn't gotten the glaze then I'm sure I would have had glaze envy everytime I saw glazed cabinets here on this forum!

I really like the look of glaze and considered it but the upcharge made my mind up for me. I felt there were other things that I reeeaaallly wanted that would be better to spend the money on. In the end, I have no regrets about not getting it. If you have the $$ and really love it, I say go for it. But if you're agonizing over it, which it sounds like you are, I probably would skip it.

A kitchen remodel is a huge expense, so I guess my philosophy is that the $$ should go to the stuff you NEED first, then to the stuff you LOVE. The stuff you can live with or without, you might as well live without and keep the money.

We didn't get a glaze, because we love the natural variations and the luminescence of natural maple:

Abbycat - do you think that glaze takes away from the luminescence? I also like that "glowing" factor maple has - I would want the glaze to enhance that, not snuff it out. Does glaze actually counteract that glow somehow? In a physical way?

Not a big fan of glaze unless it's done really well, if you're going with really custom cabinets the glaze will probably be done well. We went with Kraftmaid because they fit our small budget - saw too much variation their glazes from sample to sample so we didn't go that route.

Everything is trendy to one degree or another, if you are planning on staying in the house get the kitchen you think you can live with for a long period of time...with some small updating every 5 - 7 years.

gardenwebber: Well, I guess it depends on the finish. We had natural maple floors in our last house, and loved them, so that's kind of how we ended up with maple kitchen cabinets. Maybe I'm thinking of stain when I think it would affect that glow. Keep looking at samples before you decide. I know for sure that NOT getting glaze is a savings!

Bumping for sdionnemoore!